In a blaze of publicity costing £2 million ($3.2 million)
UK computer manufacturer Tiny
has launched a PC giveaway to people willing to use its new
telecoms service.

To qualify for a free PC, users will have to sign up for
12 months to TinyTelecom and spend at least £25 ($40)
a month on their telephone account.

The free PCs come with a 300MHz Celeron processor,
32MB of RAM, a 3.2GB hard drive and a 56Kbps modem,
but no monitor. They are set to dial Tiny's free
ISP service.

"Research shows that there are 11.3 million Internet users
in Britain and over six million of them are home users,"
said Tiny managing director Jon Harris.

"By providing free computers with the software pre-loaded
and ready to run, every home in Britain can join in the
technological revolution being driven by the PC and
the Internet."

The Tiny Web site was not serving pages for much of Friday,
the day of the announcement. However,
Tough, It's Now Yours,
Jay Watkinson's pages listing complaints from people
who have purchased a Tiny computer, was highly accessible.

Performance of the Internet service is now likely to
become a focal point for discussion -- because who
can complain if the machine is free?